RPRO 8 Enhancing performance in Windows XP Environment
SYMPTOMS
Retail Pro, version 8 loads up very slowly, especially on networked computers
CAUSE 1 - Windows System Restore turned ON.
Windows XP has a new feature called Device Monitoring which provides a backup “trail” so that if any applications have any difficulty, it can restore it. However, this really slows things down.
CAUSE 2
Retail Pro files are on a compressed drive. Compression slows a computer down.
CAUSE 3
Antivirus software is slowing down the Retail Pro.
CAUSE 4
Memory leak. Another program that you are running at the same time as Rpro is using too much memory, and sometimes will not release memory even after you close it. You may need to restart the computer to free up all memory.
CAUSE 5
Microsoft Office has an indexing feature which is supposed to speed up file searches. Turn this off. It slows down the computer.
CAUSE 6
Windows has an indexing feature that is supposed to speed up file searches. This is not necessary and will slow down the computer.
CAUSE 7
A search engine-related program is indexing files in the background, such as Google Desktop.
RESOLUTION 1
A new feature was introduced in Windows ME, and rolled over into XP, called System Restore. This utility monitors disk activity, driver installation, pretty much any activity that has the capacity to cause system instability down the line. For example, you are installing a device driver that is not digitally signed for Windows XP. System Restore will create a restore point that you can return to if your system should become unstable. It could be compared to "Ghost-on-the-fly", per say.
The catch of it is, the feature is enabled for all drives by default. In our test, the operating system was located on the C drive, installed on the active partition, and Retail Pro was installed on the D drive, installed on the secondary partition. By disabling System Restore on the D drive, the slowdown symptoms we have been witnessing have been eliminated. In a Windows XP Networked environment, only the Windows XP server needs to have this change. No action is necessary at the workstations. To turn off System Restore, follow the easy steps outlined below:
1) Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
2) Click on the System Restore tab.
3) Select the Drive that Retail Pro is installed to.
4) Select Settings
5) Check the box labeled "Turn Off System Restore on the Drive"
6) Click "OK"
7) Click "OK"
You have just turned off System Restore. It's that easy!!
RESOLUTION 2
Decompress the Retail Folder or the entire drive that contains Retail Pro. Make sure you have plenty of free space on the drive before you decompress files.
RESOLUTION 3
Some antivirus programs slow down programs, especially a database such as Rpro which opens many files at the same time. Norton Antivirus is the preferred antivirus software. Also make sure The Retail folder is set up as an Exception for the Autoprotect scan.
RESOLUTION 4
You should have minimal extra programs running on computers running Retail Pro. Shut down any unnecessary programs, and uninstall them if they restart when you restart the computer.
RESOLUTION 5
Turn off the indexing feature in Microsoft Office.
RESOLUTION 6
Turn off the indexing feature in Windows.
RESOLUTION 7
Uninstall any other program that indexes files, such as Google Desktop. These can slow down your computer since they run in the background and use memory, and they are not necessary.
NOTE: All suggestions above apply to the computer that Retail Pro is actually installed on. However, you may also want to follow these same measures on a workstation if it is slow when running Retail Pro.
Customize Field Names in Form View
Changing documents labels in Document Designer or in Reports does not affect field/header names that show on the screen in Retail Pro areas.
1. Go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES > SYSTEM > Use user-defined labels in RPRO: Select to allow the use of custom labels.
2. Go to Options > Program Labels (Shift+F12).
3. Adjust the screen to see all the columns by using Zoom button on the side.
4. Left click on Label column header to sort the labels by name.
5. Find labels you want to edit (for example, “Desc 1”).
6. For each entry of “Desc 1” (as an example) enter new label in custom label column (for example, “Style #”)
7. Once done, click Save to exit Program Labels.
You still can see the original labels by resting the mouse pointer on that field.
Note: Program Labels and Security Administrator If you have registered Retail Pro with Security Administrator, you can control user access to the following actions in the program labels module on a user or group basis:
System > Edit Program Labels
Reference: One Step Retail Solutions Knowledge Base
1. Go to SYSTEM PREFERENCES > SYSTEM > Use user-defined labels in RPRO: Select to allow the use of custom labels.
2. Go to Options > Program Labels (Shift+F12).
3. Adjust the screen to see all the columns by using Zoom button on the side.
4. Left click on Label column header to sort the labels by name.
5. Find labels you want to edit (for example, “Desc 1”).
6. For each entry of “Desc 1” (as an example) enter new label in custom label column (for example, “Style #”)
7. Once done, click Save to exit Program Labels.
You still can see the original labels by resting the mouse pointer on that field.
Note: Program Labels and Security Administrator If you have registered Retail Pro with Security Administrator, you can control user access to the following actions in the program labels module on a user or group basis:
System > Edit Program Labels
Reference: One Step Retail Solutions Knowledge Base
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